María Clemencia Herrera Nemerayema

María Clemencia Herrera Nemerayema (born 1968) is a Witoto Colombian indigenous, women rights and biodiversity activist. From an early age, she served in this role with National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) and has founded entities to defend and promote indigenous youth and women.

Career Herrera was born in 1968 in La Chorrera, Amazonas, Colombia, in the Garza Blanca clan of the Witoto people. Her grandparents and great-grandparents were victims of the Amazon rubber cycle, and her father, Eulogio Herrera, contributed greatly to the reconstruction of La Chorrera, which was left with fewer than ten houses.

After finishing high school, in 1991 Herrera went to Putumayo to support the Organic Law on Land Use Planning. In 1992, Herrera participated in project management training in the Amazon and in research on projects in the Amazon Basin, which allowed her to travel to other countries in the Amazon.

In 2003, while Herrera was representing indigenous peoples at the peace negotiation table, she was called to engage in direct dialogue with the FARC. At the meeting, a militant pointed a gun at her, but when he saw that she was accompanied by her young daughter, he did not shoot her.